The Arithmetic Reasoning section of the test measures your ability to solve arithmetic word problems. You may be asked questions such as “If the tire of a car rotates at a constant speed of 552 times in 1 minute, how many times will the tire rotate in half an hour?” Therefore, reviewing common math key words associated with each operation is recommended. For example, if you see the key words “in all,” the problem deals with addition. If the problem asks you to “find the difference,” you are being asked to subtract. If a question asks “how many times” per day or week, you know you are dealing with multiplication. If it asks “how many in each,” you should be thinking about division. The CAT-ASVAB has 16 questions in 39 minutes; the paper-and-pencil version has 30 questions in 36 minutes.

It is critical to know how ASVAB scores are calculated and what they are used for. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) tests are used to identify whether a candidate is qualified to enlist in a particular branch of the U.S. Military. The ASVAB test is also used to determine which military jobs (referred to as MOS for Military Occupational Specialties) a candidate is best suited for. ASVAB scores can also be used by test takers to help explore which careers they may be a good fit for them – whether they go into the military or not. While no one officially passes or fails the ASVAB, each branch of the military has specific minimum scores required for enlistment. Your scores also affect the type of military job, enlistment bonuses and salary you are eligible for.

All test takers are given a summary results sheet that shows their percentile score in every test area. A percentile score of 50 means that a score was achieved that was better than 50 percent of all test takers. Percentile scores are given specifically for test takers of their gender and their grade level. Information obtained from the test is only shared with agencies within the Department of Defense. Test takers are informed that their specific scores will be used for up to two years for recruiting purposes. After two years, test scores will be used for research purposes only.

Los servicios de prueba de Aptitud Vocacional de la Armada (ASVAB, por sus siglas en inglés) sen utiliza para evaluar las habilidades y destrezas de todos los postulantes a militares de EE.UU. La elegibilidad de las Fuerzas Armadas está determinada por la puntuación AFQT, que se compila a partir de cuatro áreas de prueba: conocimientos de matemáticas, comprensión de lectura, conocimientos de las palabras y razonamiento aritmético. Las puntuaciones se miden en un rango de muestras representativas del 1 al 99%. Los requisitos AFQT para los postulantes son los mismos que para los miembros en servicio activo.
If you are pressed for time, it may be worthwhile to look into future ASVAB test dates in order to plan ahead in case you get a poor score on your upcoming ASVAB test. You can check with your high school counselor or your military recruiter to make sure that you will be eligible to take future tests along with your planned upcoming test date in the event that you get a bad ASVAB score.